Veg Tel Aviv

Aba Gil Hummus - Vegan Restaurant

Traditional Middle Eastern food can be vegan friendly and hummus is a vegan’s best friend. Tel Aviv is full of hummus places, though most of them serve meat and other animal products. Aba Gil Hummus is unique in being a completely vegan hummus restaurant. Most ingredients used are organic, which also sets this place apart from the other restaurants. In addition to the traditional hummus, tehini and falafel, you can have rice, quinoa, soup and quiche - all vegan.

There’s a nice selection of vegan desserts, including a vegan version of local delicacy malabi, a creamy pudding dessert, which is normally made with milk, but at Aba Gil is based in non dairy rice milk.

 The staff is very friendly and although prices for some of the dishes are slightly above the normal hummus prices (because organic food is generally still quite expensive in Israel), overall you’ll pay a reasonable price for a fulfilling meal.

Aba Gil menu

Address:  Yehuda HaLevi 55, Tel Aviv, Tel: 03-5663320

Open Sunday - Thursday 11am - 5:30pm; Friday 11am - 3pm.

Rock & Fashion for Animal Rights @ Radio EPGB

Tomorrow night there’ll be a benefit party for Behind Closed Doors a non-profit organisation campaigning against animal testing in Israel.

The benefit will feature music from local rock acts  Ram Orion, Atlantica, Alon Eder, Ta’ani Ester and Bo la bar,  DJ’S  Tammy Ben Yehuda & Shira Arad and a fashion sale by fashion designers such as Avigail Adam, Jul, Zohara and many more.

The party is at Radio EPGB, a nicely decorated bar on Shadal 7 (near the corner of Yehuda Halevi), Tel Aviv. The fashion sale starts at noon and the music starts at 9pm.

Vegan Doughnuts for Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is upon us once again and whether you celebrate holidays or not, you’ll probably agree that the best thing about Hanukkah are the doughnuts! If you’re in Tel Aviv these days, you’ll be smelling them wherever you go.

While it’s not really necessary to use eggs when making doughnuts, some places that sell them do and some places don’t… you won’t know unless you ask :) Or you can simply make them yourself. Ingredients are cheap and you know exactly what goes into your doughnut.

 Here’s an easy recipe for vegan doughnuts:

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tbsp yeast

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

3 tbsp sugar

warm water

Frying oil

Strawberry jam 

Powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Mix all ingredients together

2. Let the dough sit in a warm place for about an hour; it should rise to double its size

3. Knead the dough until smooth and let it rise again

4. Heat frying oil in a pan

5. Fry small balls of dough in oil until they turn brown 

6. Absorb oil, add powdered sugar and strawberry jam 

That’s a recipe for traditional doughnuts, but you can also check out some healthier vegan doughnuts recipes:

- Mini Donut Test Kitchen 

- Fat-Free Mini Donuts 

Maafiniya - Home Made Vegan Muffins and Cakes

Supporting a small vegan business is always a good idea : ) Maafiniya is a new home business run by two vegans in Tel Aviv - Chen and Maya, who make vegan muffins, cakes and cookies. Everything is made to order at reasonable prices and you can pick up your order from their place in the eastern part of Tel Aviv or have large orders delivered to you. 

Apart from the menu being egg-free, dairy-free and honey-free, a lot of organic ingredients are used, and there are also some gluten-free options on offer. The menu includes sweet and savory muffins, such as blueberry and walnut muffins, banana, date and pecan muffins (also gluten-free), chocolate / carob muffins, olive muffins with tofu and cashew (in the savory section) and quite a few more! The cakes include carob cake, walnut banana cake and pumpkin raisin cake. The cookies menu has oatmeal cranberry cookies, pistachio raisins cookies and some more delicacies.

Contact maafiniya (at) gmail.com for orders and questions.

Two new vegan restaurants opening this week!

Veganism is spreading to more parts of the country :) Buddha Burgers, a fantastic vegan restaurant and, at least in my opinion, the best one around, already has two branches in Tel Aviv, and this week it’s opening two more restaurants in Israel:

The first vegan restaurant, under the name “Shibolet”, opened in Ranana, a city north of Tel Aviv. It offers a similar menu to that of the large Tel Aviv branch (scroll down for English). They promise to offer more vegan variations in future, plus live music shows.

The address of the vegan restaurant in Ranana is Hamasger 1, Ranana, and the opening hours are: Sunday - Thursday: 11am - 10pm; Friday: 11am - 3pm; Saturday: Closed; Phone: 09-740 40 02

The second vegan restaurant opens in Dimona, a town in the south of Israel. It’s smaller and offers a more modest selection of food.

The opening party is on Wednesday 10 Nov. at 6pm, with live music and great food. 

The Dimona vegan restaurant is in the shopping centre (pictured), opening hours: Sunday - Thursday: 11am - midnigh; Friday: 11am - 4pm; Saturday: Closed; Phone: 08-655 34 55.

Taam Haduvdevan - Vegan Raw Food in Tel Aviv

Taam Haduvdevan (which translates as “The Taste of Cherry”) is the only raw food eatery in Tel Aviv. It’s also organic and fully vegan. Opened quite recently, it is a relatively small place, brightly designed and centrally located. Despite the central location - not far from Rabin Square, on the very busy street of Even Gvirol - the atmosphere is very pleasant and peaceful. It is attached to a large and well stocked health store, called Nitzat Haduvdevan,  which incidentally is also a great place for vegans to shop. 

Taam Haduvdevan offers a selection of raw dishes, all vegan and mostly organic, such as pizza, raw burger, vegetable pasta, sprouted hummus, and sandwiches. It also has  cashew nut cheese and yoghurt, fruit and vegetable smoothies, pancakes, delicious raw ice cream based on almonds, as well as cakes and muffins. The variety is grat for a place this size, and everything is made from fresh produce, nuts, beans and lentils, avoiding any processed food. The fruit and vegetables used are organic. It also caters for those who need a gluten free meal. Check out this photo album to see some of the dishes. You’ll find a recipe book on the counter to get you inspired. 

The founders are a dedicated group of vegan raw food activists, who set out to promote raw foodism, and also run events and workshops on related subjects. For news on events, check out the Facebook page  (Hebrew) and sign up for the mailing list next to the counter. 

Taam Haduvdevan

Address: Even Gvirol 58, Tel Aviv

Opening hours (same as the health store):

Sunday - Thursday 9am-9pm

Friday 8am - 3pm

Tel: +972- 77-5615932

Email: taam.haduvdevan (at) gmail.com

Facebook (Hebrew)

Vegan Meet Up at Buddha Burgers in Tel Aviv

Vegetarian Israel is the new Couchsurfing group, opened not so long ago, that already has 43 vegan and vegetarian members.

Whether you’re a CouchSurfer or not, you can join an international group of CouchSurfers, travellers and locals, for some vegan food and socialising on Wednesday, 3rd November at 8:30pm at Buddha Burgers (vegan restaurant).

Join the event here and you can also indicate if you need a ride or a place to stay.

Vegan cooking classes every week at Rogatka Vegan Bar

Rogatka Vegan Bar is more than a vegan restaurant, it’s also a social centre with an activist agenda, part of which is promoting veganism and DIY culture. Rogatka now holds weekly classes teaching vegan cooking and baking skills. Classes are open to everyone and cost 10 shekels each, with all proceeds used towards publishing a new vegan cookbook.

The vegan cooking workshops take place weekly at 7pm at Rogatka Vegan Bar. When you reach Yizhak Sadeh 32 turn right, walk up a few steps and you’ll find the entrance to your right.

You can follow @VegTelAviv on Twitter for reminders before each workshop, or check out Rogatka’s events page (English follows Hebrew)

The Campaign against Battery Cages

Though battery cages are banned in many countries, Israel is still very much behind on this issue. The current big animal welfare campaign in Israel is against battery cages, and more specifically revolves around legislative reforms in this area. The background to this campaign is a government decision from 2007 that essentially resolved to replace old battery cages with new and somewhat more spacious battery cages.

Anonymous for Animal Rights is a major animal rights group that brought this is issue to public awareness, with the help of many supporters. It  reached the mainstream media and has been making good use of Facebook  and Youtube (in Hebrew). Some local celebrities, artists, rabbis, politicians and celebrity chefs also joined the campaign and expressed their support. 

Anonymous appealed to the court against the government’s decision, and as a result the reform was delayed until a revised reform is drafted. This time the legislation should at least conform to the European minimum standards for battery cages, and the campaigners try to promote aviaries as a practical alternative.

As you can probably gather, it’s a campaign focused on welfare rather than rights, based on a realistic assessment of the current state of affairs, which is certainly not ripe for more radical reforms. Aviaries and free range eggs are offered as the current alternatives to battery cages - obviously neither of these prevents the exploitation of animals. Still, the campaign managed to attract media attention and to create a public debate on the living conditions of chickens that has a long term educational value.

The drafting of the new reform has not yet been completed, and there are regular demonstrations held in front of the Knesset (parliament) on days on which the relevant committee holds its meetings to discuss this reform.

The upcoming demonstration is on Sunday 31st October at 8:30am in Wohl Rose Park, opposite the Knesset, Jerusalem.

Read more about Anonymous and more about the egg industry reform. If you read some Hebrew, take a look at the campaign website.

Animal Welfare Charity Event - Florentin Loves Animals

Haver Li is a volunteer based animal welfare charity, helping dogs and cats. 

To raise funds for its activities, Haver  Li is holding a design, fashion and music fair in Florentin, Tel Aviv. About 15 designers will offer original hand made designs for sale, including shoes, shirts, bags, jewlery and badges. There’ll be a DJ and video art as well. Entry is free and proceeds from the sales will support the charity.

Thr fair will take place on Friday 29 October in a loft on Mizrahi 26, Florentin, Tel Aviv from 11am till 5pm.

Florentin Loves Animals - the event page on Facebook (Hebrew).

Vegan “Cheese” in Tel Aviv

You may be able to find vegan “cheese” in health stores in Tel Aviv on a somewhat irregular basis, but if you want to support a relatively young business that’s entirely vegan, you want to get your “cheese” from the Vegan Shop.   

Vegan Shop imports different brands, including Daiya, Cheezly, Sheese (which has the largest variety) and Teese, as well as vegan parmesan. A list of ingredients and nutritional information for all brands is available online in English.   

You can buy your dairy free “cheese” at the Vegan Shop store in central Tel Aviv or order it online and pick it up later. Note that not all brands are in stock at all times.

Vegan Shop - Even Gvirol 3, Tel Aviv, 03-5602199, info -at- veganshop.co.il

Animal Liberation in popular TV shows & vegan meal

Tomorrow, Tuesday 26.10  you can enjoy a cheap vegan meal from a set menu at Rogatka Vegan Bar, plus a screening of espisodes from popular TV shows that feature animal liberation themes, such as The Simpsons, South Park, and other surprises (also Beverly Hills 90210!). Come and see what we look like on the small screen.

The screening is free, the vegan meal costs 10-15 shekels. 

The event is on Tuesday 26.10 and starts at 8pm.

Rogatka reviewed on this site

Rogatka’s schedule of events

Vegan cooking classes in Tel Aviv

For those of you who understand some Hebrew, there are vegan cooking classes at an affordable price, run by Buddha Burgers. To sign up for a workshop, fill out this form and you’ll be notified when the next workshop takes place.

The upcoming vegan cooking class will take place on Saturday, 4^th December at 5pm, at the  Buddha Burgers restaurant (on the corner of Yehuda Halevi and Herzl Street). The cost is 30 shekels.

Revolution Brunch at Rogatka Veggie Bar

Every Saturday from 12:30 there’s a a 3-course vegan brunch at Rogatka, to end the week on a good note and with a full stomach :)

The menu for each meal is published on Rogatka’s Facebook page.

Vegan Shop Birthday Party

The Vegan Shop , the only purely vegan shop in Tel Aviv, celebrates its first birthday at the store, and you are welcome to join the celebrations! There’ll be vegan ice cream, vegan cupcakes and other treats.

When & Where: Thursday 19th September 2010 from 7:30pm till 11pm.

The address is Even Gvirol 3 (near the corner of Marmorek Street)

Facebook event page

More about the Vegan Shop